University at Albany, State University of New York
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Y’all Means All: Pro-choice Abortion Activism in West Texas Post-Dobbs
No full textIn the spring of 2021, a six-week abortion ban passed by popular vote in the city of Westerburg, Texas. It had a civil enforcement mechanism, allowing someone to collect a reward of 10,000 plus legal fees. In the face of this ban, pro-choice activists in Westerburg began campaigning to be able to keep abortion care legal. This dissertation describes the experiences of pro-choice activists in West Texas in a post-Roe environment, what brought them to activism, and what keeps them in activism despite being an ideological minority.
This study found that the weaponization of stereotypically negative emotions was one of the main factors in countering activist burnout and allowing activists to remain involved in progressive activism in a deeply conservative environment. The sense of community and positive interpersonal relationships formed by activists took on a new level of importance due to feelings of isolation associated with being an ideological minority, and the breakdown of interpersonal relationships that some activists attributed to moral and ideological conflicts with friends and families of origin. Medical providers articulated feelings of distress and greater difficulty in providing the best quality of care due to the abortion bans discussed here
Pitch Identification in Musical Dyads That Vary in Harmonic Quality and Pitch Register
No full textSeror and Neill (2015) found that consonant dyads are processed more fluently than dissonant dyads. Their finding suggested that this advantage in fluency accounts for the generalized preference for these chords. Recently, Eerola and Lahdelma (2021) found that the pitch register of the chord also affects consonance judgements of musical chords. This may suggest that chords in higher registers are processed less fluently than chords in the middle register. The present study combines these two studies by investigating processing fluency for musical dyads that vary in harmonic quality and pitch register. Participants were tasked with identifying whether an initially presented probe note was part of a musical dyad that followed. Accuracy in correctly identifying the presence of the probe note and RT for correct responses were used to measure the fluency of processing these stimuli. Additionally, this study used the standard diffusion model to further understand how well sensory evidence is accumulated between experimental conditions. In two studies, we replicated Seror and Neill’s (2015) harmonic quality effects on fluency; however, contrary to what was predicted, we found that high register dyads were processed more fluently. We conclude that this processing advantage may be due to the increased perceived loudness of frequencies in the high register. However, this suggests a more complex association between fluency and preferences for aesthetic stimuli than originally predicted
Contemporary Hand-Weaving Practices: An Ethnography of Aging and Women’s Creativity
No full textOlder people may often be conceived of as weak and invisible but the elder women weavers whose stories make up the body of this dissertation demonstrate counter-narratives. Becoming old can be difficult and sorrowful but is necessary and important. Euro-American culture, however, tends to idolize youth and associate youth with beauty, while tying old age to ugliness and marginalizing elderly people. Yet, elderly people are beautiful and powerful because of all of the beautiful moments of life they have accumulated as they grow older. Through their weaving practices that are deeply embedded in their everyday lives, the elder women weavers continue learning new skills and knowledge together, sharing their crafts, experiences, and stories with each other, and creating special bonds.
This dissertation is an ethnography of ordinary elder women’s lives that many might view as insignificant, notwithstanding that what those women are doing is revolutionary as they forge power through their weaving practices. Drawing inspirations from feminist approaches, this study sheds light on the fortitude, resilience, and strength of the elder women weavers based on over six years (2018-2025) of ethnographic fieldwork conducted in New York State’s capital region. This study is grounded in anthropological theories of women’s everyday acts of resistance, creativity, and aging as well as the works of First Nation scholar Dian Million and Japanese photographer Miyako Ishiuchi. As a result, it enables us to feel the power and beauty of those elder women weavers through understanding how the act of being a weaver is their statements
Developing and Assessing Hospital Performance Indicators for ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction Inpatient Care
No full textAcute myocardial infarction (AMI) is one of the leading contributors to the high mortality associated with cardiovascular disease. AMI outcomes vary substantially across hospitals, and quality assurance activities are necessary to standardize care practices and reduce the disease burden. The purpose of this research was to develop and validate hospital performance indicators for the inpatient care of ST-elevation myocardial infarction, which is associated with higher mortality. This dissertation comprises a series of retrospective cohort analyses conducted to identify independent predictors of clinical outcomes and revascularization delays among patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in New York State from December 1, 2016, to November 30, 2019, and to develop practical tools for assessing hospital quality and equity. The base clinical registry model included standard registry risk factors. Enhancing the base registry model with prehospital delay and initial hemodynamic measures significantly improved the prediction of in-hospital/30-day mortality outcome for primary PCI, making this modestly improved model a reliable and practical tool for assessing individual hospital quality and equity. The modestly improved model also proved to be a reliable and practical method for evaluating hospital quality and equity based on hospital-risk-adjusted 30-day readmission outcomes. Compared with 30-day outcome metrics, 6-month metrics based on modestly improved models were less valid and practical for evaluating individual hospital quality and equity. Finally, incorporating the mode of arrival and prehospital delay variables significantly enhanced the base model performance in detecting door-to-balloon delay, making the modestly improved model valid and practical for evaluating individual hospital performance
Explaining Mass Shooting Motivations: A Case Survey Analysis of US Mass Shootings (2006-2024)
No full textResearch on the motivations behind mass shootings remains inconclusive as these events often lack a singular or explicit cause. The motivations of mass shooters are complex, shaped by the interplay of psychological, social, and ideological factors. While some attacks are clearly driven by extremist beliefs, others appear to stem from less defined forces such as depravity or sadistic intent. Existing typologies, such as Langman’s (2009) analysis of school shooters, offer valuable insight but are limited in scope. This study expands upon previous research by examining U.S. mass shootings from 2006 to 2024 to determine whether such events are more frequently motivated by explicit ideological influences or by non-ideological factors. By distinguishing between these categories, the research seeks to identify alternative motivational patterns and provide a deeper understanding of perpetrator psychology. The findings aim to advance typological models and provide a holistic understanding of what drives mass shooting violence in the United States
A Comparison of College Readiness among Adult and Traditional-Age College Students
No full textThis dissertation examines age-based differences in college readiness by comparing newly enrolled adult undergraduates (age 24 and older) with traditional-age undergraduates at two public institutions: a large online university serving primarily working adults and a residential research university serving primarily younger students. The study uses secondary data from 5,447 incoming students who completed the Diagnostic Assessment and Achievement of College Skills (DAACS) Reading and Mathematics assessments between May 2022 and May 2023. The primary goal was to test whether adult and traditional-age students differ in reading and mathematics readiness after adjusting for background characteristics.
Multistage bifactor and unidimensional two-parameter logistic item response theory models were used to evaluate internal structure and item quality. Two item pools (180 reading and 174 mathematics items) were tested for differential item functioning (DIF) by age group, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, military affiliation, and transfer-credit status using logistic regression with IRT-based ability estimates. To prioritize measurement invariance, a deliberately conservative DIF-flagging strategy was adopted, and low-performing items were excluded; total reading and mathematics scores were then re-estimated from the refined item pools. Multiple linear regression models, supplemented by sensitivity analyses, tested age differences in academic readiness while controlling for the same set of covariates.
After covariate adjustment, reading readiness did not differ meaningfully by age, whereas adult students showed significantly lower mathematics readiness. These results underscore the need to examine differences between the more frequently studied population of traditional-age students and the understudied, rapidly growing population of adult learners in order to equitably accommodate both groups
The Future We Imagine Together: The Role of Collaborative Imagination in Our Social, Emotional, and Creative Lives
No full textHumans are profoundly social: we play together, solve problems together, and work towards goals together. In doing so, we also imagine together. Yet cognitive research on imagination has largely remained focused on how an individual imagines the future, with little consideration of whether imagination could take place beyond the individual. This dissertation introduces a novel framework through which imagination is understood as a collaborative, interpersonally distributed process in which individuals co-create hypothetical events outside the present moment. Across six studies, this work investigates both the features of co-imagined events, and the potential functions co-imagination may have in social cognition. To this end, these studies assigned participants into dyads with a novel partner, and instructed participants to either 1) collaboratively imagine a shared future with their partner, 2) individually imagine a shared future involving their partner, or 3) collaboratively work on a game or view and describe a scene depicted in a photo (Manuscripts 1 & 2 only). All participants also completed a subsequent task in which they recalled the previously imagined event or perceived scene, enabling assessment of participants’ individual representations. The studies presented in Manuscript 1 examine the social effects of co-imagination, finding that participants who imagine collaboratively feel more socially connected to their partners, and consider their perspective more often than in other conditions. Analysis of individual participant narratives reveal that co-imagined events are retained as shared representations of the future across individual participants. Manuscript 2 expanded these insights and considered the emotions participants express within these shared representations. Across both studies, evidence reveals that while participants who co-imagine do not express similar emotions during the imagine task itself, their expressed emotions converge within their subsequent individual representations of the event. Finally, Manuscript 3 investigates the effects of co-imagination on divergent thinking during the imagine task. Evidence from Study 1 suggests a positive effect of co-imagination over individual imagination, which is only apparent when accounting for the negative effect of social connection—though these effects did not replicate in Study 2. Taken together, these six studies provide a novel inquiry into the features and functions of co-imagination, finding evidence to suggest a potentially influential role in how we relate to both the future, and each other. These findings have implications across diverse areas of research—providing a novel mechanism that may give rise to a state of dyadic shared reality, foster the development of imagination in children, and support therapeutic interventions in clinical contexts
Epitaxial Quantum Dot Scintillators with Monolithic Photodetector Integration: Physics, Fabrication and Characterization of Materials and Devices
Full text linkThis dissertation discloses the physics, fabrication, and characterization of high-performance scintillator detectors based on epitaxial InAs quantum dots (QDs) in GaAs. The detector crystals grown include monolithically integrated In0.35GaAs photodetectors with Al0.92-0.6In0.03-0.35Ga0.05As metamorphic buffer layers (MBL). A device fabrication process was developed for the lithographic patterning, chemical etching, contact metallization and readout integration of materials grown by means of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on 3-inch GaAs (001) wafers. Low capacitance integration with readout electronics was achieved through wire bonds to custom printed circuit boards (PCBs) with commercial components.
The relationship between device geometry and response was explored through exposure to alpha particles from Americium-241, 510 nm laser scans and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. The detector response was found to be described within a ray-optics framework which includes material characteristics and device dimensions. An accurate analytical device model was obtained through incorporation of solid and plane angle-based approaches to estimating light detection, absorption and escape.
To investigate the ability of the scintillation material to support picosecond scale timing resolution through high and fast light yield, the photodetector response to the scintillation emission was read out with low noise operational amplifier-based circuits. A simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis (SPICE) was used to evaluate readout circuit designs which were ultimately validated experimentally. The effects of modulation doping on scintillation photon yield corroborate previous measurements made with photoluminescence. Light yields exceeding 40,000 photons/MeV were observed at an overall efficiency of ~17%. Devices with ~1 GHz of bandwidth were used to achieve estimated timing resolutions as low as 30 ps. Linearity was studied via 5 calorimetry of air-attenuated alpha particles. The device model was validated and used in experimental design to minimize the contribution of internal collection efficiency gradients and discern a σ/μ upper limit of 2.6% for the intrinsic energy resolution of the scintillator
Divided by Fear: The Influence of Political Beliefs on the Perception of Extremist Groups
Full text linkActs of violent extremism and support for political violence have increased in the United States over the past decade. Previous studies have primarily focused on the differences in risk perception between White Supremacists and Islamic Extremists/Jihadists, neglecting other ideological movements. This study utilizes data from the fifth wave of the Chapman Survey of American Fears and employs ordinal logistic regression to compare the fear of seven different extremist groups and movements: Islamic Extremists/Jihadists, the Militia/Patriot Movement, White Supremacists, Extreme Environmentalists, Extreme Animal Rightists, Anti-Immigration Groups, and ANTIFA. The findings reveal notable differences across political parties (Democrats, Republicans, and Independents) and ideologies (conservatives, liberals, and moderates). The findings suggest that political ideology plays a more significant role in shaping the fear of various extremist groups than party membership. These results support social identity theory and the ideological conflict hypothesis, highlighting the essential role that political ideology and party affiliation play in identity formation. This study reveals the nuanced relationship between political ideology, party affiliation, and the perception of extremism
Adaptive Evolution Shapes the Transmissibility of West Nile Virus in New York State
No full textArthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses), which are maintained in nature in complex transmission cycles involving hematophagic invertebrates and their vertebrate hosts, are the cause of a significant and expanding global health burden. Defining arbovirus-host interactions is necessary if we are to understand the adaptive and epidemiological potential of arboviruses. The results presented with West Nile virus (WNV Flaviviridae: Orthoflavivirus), are a compilation of such studies. WNV is the most prevalent arboviral pathogen in the U.S. and the most geographically distributed arbovirus in the world. Despite the evolutionary potential of these RNA viruses, WNV and other arboviruses have experienced only limited consensus level change. This relative evolutionary stasis has been identified utilizing primarily large, national datasets, or data collected over short periods of time, that may obscure the genetic signal of adaptation, and of a prospective advantage in mosquito vectors or avian hosts that may be restricted to a small geographic range. These studies utilize molecular epidemiology in conjunction with experimental studies to characterize and evaluate the directionally selected set of mutations comprising a unique and dominant WNV genotype and its phenotypic consequences. Taken together, these studies demonstrate the adaptive potential of WNV, and the importance of the emergence of adaptive mutations to sustained endemicity of an arbovirus species